USAID Field Report Indonesia Oct 2001
November 20, 2001
United States Agency for International Development Bureau for Humanitarian
Response Office of Transition Initiatives
Program Description
The Office of Transition Initiatives in Indonesia seeks to assist, accelerate, and secure
the process of reform and democratization in this enormous island nation. Following
thirty years of corrupt autocracy under former President Suharto, Indonesia
inaugurated the first freely elected government in the country's history in 1999. This
milestone, while very positive, unleashed social, economic, and religious tensions
throughout the archipelago, which ultimately consumed the Presidency of Wahid,
resulting in his impeachment by the Parliament. This Parliament then elevated
Vice-President Megawati SukarnoPutri to the Presidency, and named a new Vice
President, Hamzah Haz.
OTI programs in Indonesia address some of the most difficult regions and issues in
the country. The intent is to assist in the resolution of dangerous regional crises that
undermine the country's ability to move forward. Using tools, which vary from media
support to governance to reconstruction, OTI is focused on conflict prevention,
mitigation and resolution in those crisis areas that have national resonance.
Additionally, OTI works on the civilian side of the civil/military equation in supporting
reform.
Country Situation
Indonesia's relationship with the United States, and to large extent national politics,
remains dominated by the terrorist attacks of September 11 and the subsequent U.S.
response. Religious and party politics in the country revolve around positions on the
U.S. war against terrorism. The latest stated Indonesian position is that the strikes
should end before the advent of Ramadan, and while the U.S. has stated this will not
occur, there is yet no Indonesian response. Regular protests continue to occur at the
U.S. Embassy in Jakarta.
Indonesia continues to struggle with the economic crisis. IBRA (Indonesian Bank
Restructuring Agency) is behind in this year's asset sales amid widespread political
interference. The Rupiah has softened over the past two months, and exports look
likely to slump, given the worldwide slowdown. Much work remains in restructuring
and rule of law in order to encourage new investment. There is increasing concern
about the future of the economy, and the country's sovereign debt has been
downgraded again by Standard and Poor. This will put additional pressure on the
currency and on the administration of President Megawati.
The MPR (People's Consultative Assembly, which includes regional representatives)
has been in session and has received Megawati's accountability speech. While some
criticism has been leveled at her government by the MPR, relations remain polite and
professional between the Executive and the Parliament.
Parliament has passed a special autonomy package for the province of Papua, which
is being viewed as a great success for the region. The law is generous and
decentralizes many functions to the province. Some bodies created by the law do not
yet exist, and the region will need to push ahead swiftly in order to engender the
benefits offered by the package. The Special Autonomy Law is widely seen as the
best chance to avoid further confrontation in Papua.
OTI HIGHLIGHTS
OTI staff members were unable to travel for much of October due to security
restrictions imposed after the U.S.-led strikes on Afghanistan. Toward the end of the
month the situation stabilized, but a number of American staff remain outside the
country. This situation has resulted in a significant drop in grant production for the
month of October. OTI hopes to operate normally by late November.
A. Narrative Summary
Aceh
Throughout the third quarter of 2001, OTI program activities in Aceh mainly focused on
capacity building for selected local NGOs based in Banda Aceh, and in conflicted
areas outside of Banda Aceh. This program includes the delivery of equipment and
training, including security, program development, and English language. The rest of
the training such as general management, financial management, organizational
development and basic computer skills, will be implemented in November and
December.
In September, OTI implemented a training program to inform provincial
parliamentarians about the new Special Autonomy Law for Aceh, which has been
approved by the Government of Indonesia (GOI). OTI will also provide this training to
district parliamentarians and government staff in November and December if security
permits. In addition, OTI will assist local teams that are drafting the regulations for
implementing the Special Autonomy Law and will hold a workshop on budgeting for
provincial and district parliamentarians.
OTI is continuing to support the operations of the Banda Aceh-based Monitoring Team
and Public Information Unit of the Henry Dunant Center in their effort to continue
negotiation efforts in the province between the GAM (Free Aceh Movement) and the
GOI.
Maluku
The situation in Maluku remains highly conflicted, with sporadic bombing of locations
in or near neutral transaction points frequented by both Muslims and Christians. As
has been the case in the past,, members of both communities expressed their
defiance of such actions by quickly returning to their trading or other integrated
activities soon after these events took place. In an effort to reduce the risk to people
and their assets in these locations, the Mayor of Ambon moved trading points from
the neutral areas considered to be most at risk to other neutral areas that are less
frequented but under tighter control by the security forces. The reaction of traders was
one of anger at not having been consulted and at the prospect of reduced sales due to
lighter foot traffic in the alternative locations.
The reaction to the U.S.-led bombing campaign in Afghanistan included
demonstrations in Ambon, which led to a reduction in the numbers of international
donor and NGO staff operating in the province. Internationals remaining behind were
advised by the Indonesian military to limit their activities, or in some cases to close
their offices entirely.
OTI's ongoing activities on Ambon Island continue to focus on expanding neutral
space and increasing positive interactions between Muslims and Christians.
North Maluku
North Maluku remains perhaps the only conflict/post-conflict success story in the
country. Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) continue to return to their villages, and it
has been a year since there was any significant conflict in the province. OTI continues
to assist in the reconstruction of houses, strengthening the new provincial
government, and providing information to IDP communities.
The United Nations has begun a robust program of assistance in the region to assist
the returning IDPs.
West Timor
Reports on the current security environment in West Timor are mixed. Kupang-based
groups indicate that conditions there have returned to normal, while people outside the
city and as far away as the border with East Timor report that the security situation
has not improved. Tension and violence in communities hosting high concentrations of
East Timorese refugees is becoming more pronounced. There have been reports of
refugee houses being burned and human rights abuses of local citizens by Indonesian
security forces.
The ongoing tension in West Timor is linked to two different political issues - the
central government's political transition in Jakarta in July, and the evolving political
process in East Timor. The NGO community in Kupang (particularly those groups
working on human rights issues) is more cautious given continuing uncertainties
linked to Jakarta's government transition and the additional military presence in West
Timor. In border areas with a high number of refugee camps (namely Atambua and
Kefamenanu), the refugee community is closely watching the political process in East
Timor as it moves from a UN administration towards full independence sometime in
early 2002.
Based on a comprehensive conflict prevention approach aimed at easing tensions
between East Timorese refugees and West Timorese residents, OTI is supporting
village dialogues in areas near Kupang and Atambua. Dialogues involve refugees and
local people and provide safe space for them to interact peacefully. Other activities
highlight local wisdom and the Timor culture as a commonly shared value. A "village
board" is used as one mechanism to solve conflict between refugee and host
communities. The board, consisting of representatives from the two communities,
works to mitigate and prevent disagreements between community members. In one
community a village board resolved a conflict that occurred due to a misunderstanding
between students (refugees/East Timorese) and a teacher (local West Timorese).
This success story has influenced other villages/camps to conduct similar activities.
During September and October, OTI supported a local grantee to conduct community
dialogues on the issue of TNI presence in the border area of Kefamenanu in north
central West Timor. This area, which directly borders Ambenu and Oecussi in East
Timor, is facing social and political problems as a result of heavy TNI presence.
During the dialogues, the issue of the military's role was addressed. The TNI functions
not only for defense purposes but also in controlling local economic access (black
market and customs) and border crossings (providing travel documents and all
immigration tasks). Over the next few weeks the local grantee will present its findings
to the local and regional parliament for further policy action.
Papua
After a long process, the Government of Indonesia (GOI) passed the Special
Autonomy Bill for Papua. This is a great achievement for Papua, and the law is very
generous to the region. An OTI grantee, Cendrawasih University (UnCen), compiled
the original draft bill and lobbied for the bill's passage. According to Agus Sumule,
head of the UnCen team, OTI's support for their efforts directly influenced the increase
in budget as well as the compromises achieved in the bill itself. The bill includes a
split of 80%-20% on forestry and fisheries revenues between the province and the
central government, and 70%-30% on oil, gas and mining revenues. It also provides for
the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission and a representative
council comprised of religious, adat (traditional) and women leaders that will be
responsible for developing certain types of provincial regulations. The law will be
implemented on January 1, 2002. The next two months are a crucial transition period
for the Papua provincial government to prepare the groundwork before the law takes
effect.
During October, OTI supported a team from the Faculty of Social Politics at University
of Cendrawasih to hold parliamentary strengthening workshops in two districts in
Jayapura and Biak. Media programs were also conducted to provide information about
the role of the Parliament in a new era of Papua's special autonomy.
Civilian Military
Two key bills are under deliberation in the Indonesian Parliament, the State Defense
Bill and the Police Bill. By month's end, the Defense Bill was declared pending while
the Parliament decided to re-open deliberations of the Police Bill.
The Indonesian Parliament had been scheduled in October to pass the Defense Bill,
replacing the 1982 law that gave the armed forces a direct role in the nation's politics.
Since late 2000, OTI has supported a team of civilian military experts that drafted
large parts of the new bill, breaking the traditional military monopoly on
security-related legislation in Indonesia. The new bill, despite some political
compromises, provides for a clear separation between defense and domestic security,
establishes new civilian control mechanisms over the armed forces, and demands
unprecedented budget transparency. The involvement of civilians of various political
backgrounds in the drafting process made the bill highly acceptable in the Indonesian
media and society as a whole.
Unfortunately, however, the parallel drafting of a new Police Bill had not been pursued
with similar standards. The draft was designed in Police Headquarters, with little
civilian input or external consultation. The controversial status of the bill led to the
postponement of its passageby the plenary session of the Parliament on October 24.
The Parliament now has until early December to review the Police Bill. Once the
Police Bill has been completed, it is expected that Parliament will pass the Defense
Bill without changes.
Meanwhile, the OTI-funded team of civilian military experts campaigned for further
structural military reform. While drafting the Defense Bill, the team was prevented by
legal constraints from incorporating language about the subordination of TNI
Headquarters to the civilian Department of Defense. Accordingly, members of the
team proposed changes to an Assembly Decree of 2000 that placed the
Commander-in-Chief and the Ministry of Defense at equal levels. Parliamentary
Assembly Speaker Amien Rais contacted the team to provide suggestions for the
MPR's (Parliament's) Annual Session in early November. In response, the team
handed in a completely reviewed Decree for deliberation by the Assembly. Because
Assembly decrees have higher legal status than normal legislation, changing them
can open new opportunities for further legal reform of the security sector.
In other developments, OTI supported a delegation of researchers from the National
Institute of Sciences (LIPI) to discuss the new draft of TNI's doctrine with senior
military officers in Bandung, West Java. It was the first time in Indonesian history that
TNI allowed direct civilian participation in the drafting process of its own ideological
and political guidelines. The workshop at TNI's Staff and Command School facilitated
a critical debate about TNI's orientation in the post-Suharto era, and it was agreed to
continue holding meetings to finalize the draft until the end of the year.
B. Grants Activity Summary
OTI Indonesia grants, FY00:
Total number of grants FY00: 195
Total grant funds committed: $5,607,928
Grant numbers by sector, FY 00:
Civil Society: 88 grants, $2,146,441
Civilian/Military: 24 grants, $970,181
Governance: 54 grants, $1,777,989
Media: 29 grants, $713,315
OTI Indonesia grants, FY01:
Total number of grants FY01: 245
Total grant funds committed: $5,092,745
Grant numbers by sector, FY 01:
Civil Society: 119 grants, $1,934,848
Civilian/Military: 20 grants, $511,575
Community Stabilization: 21 grants, $997,218
Governance: 50 grants, $1,056,579
Media: 35 grants, $592,523
Grants in current reporting period: 12 grants, $288,768
Civil Society: 3 grants, $116,178
Civilian/Military: 3 grants, $15,552
Governance: 5 grants, $139,238
Media: 1 grant, $17,800
C. Future Activities
West Timor
Future activities in West Timor depend on security conditions and relations between
refugees and host communities.
Aceh
OTI will continue to support efforts at negotiation and mediation, both through the
Henry Dunant Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, and through local and national
groups. Should the security situation improve, OTI remains ready to assist in more
concrete ways.
Maluku
OTI will continue to develop new grants in Maluku.
Papua
There are four important short-term issues that will shape OTI's Papua efforts:
Informing the public about the contents of the Special Autonomy Law;
The formulation of a strategic development program;
The establishment of a Papuan human rights commission, and;
The establishment of the MRP (Majelis Rakyat Papua - the Papuan People Council)
in Jayapura, Papua.
Civilian Military
In November, OTI's civilian-military relations program will focus on three areas of
structural military reform: the revision of TNI's territorial command system, the role of
militias in domestic security, and a debate over the ideal command structure of the
TNI.
For further information, please contact:
In Indonesia:
Michael Stievater, Country Representative at 62-21-3435-9347 or e-mail:
mstievater@usaid.gov.
In Washington:
Larry Meserve, Field Coordinator, 202-712-5458, or lmeserve@usaid.gov
Chris O'Donnell, Acting Team Leader, 202-712-0174, or codonnell@usaid.gov
http://www.reliefweb.int
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